Motihari, July 28: A sub-inspector of the Chakia police station was stripped of his duty and put behind bars today after he was found guilty of killing a constable last night.

The sub-inspector, Anil Singh, had brutally thrashed his subordinate Jai Narain Mehta, who was said to be a chronic patient of asthma for several years, after a dispute between the two over allocation of duty for night patrolling.

Chakia station house officer (SHO) Randhir Singh relieved Singh, the culprit, of his uniform, the star on the lapel and his service revolver. A criminal case has been also been registered against him with Chakia police station.

Reports from Chakia said that Mehta was lying sick in his official quarters when a chaukidaar, Pawan Kumar Yadav, visited him around 11pm yesterday and told him that Anil Singh had called him for allocation of duty to the jeep driver. Mehta complained of health problems and refused to come.

When Singh was informed by the chaukidaar of Mehta’s reluctance, he rushed to Mehta’s quarters, started calling him names and beat him black and blue until he fell unconscious.

Mehta was declared dead after a medical check-up in a nearby hospital.

Superintendent of police, East Champaran, Paras Nath confirmed the incident, adding that the actual cause leading to the victim’s death, besides the nature of injuries and their impact, could be ascertained only after the post mortem report was available.

Deputy superintendent of police, Chakia, Kauleshwar Paswan could not be contacted despite repeated calls on his cellphone.

The heinous incident has prompted the superintendent of police to issue stern orders to all the deputy superintendents and inspectors to keep strict vigil and maintain discipline in the police force. Terming the incident “unfortunate and a serious example of indiscipline”, Singh said people indulging in such acts have no place in the police force.

The superintendent of police today assured everyone that the law would take its own course and the guilty would not be spared under any circumstances.